Uber Freight, the on-demand trucking service from the ride-sharing giant, will be expanding to six new US markets and adding new tools for its drivers, the firm announced in a blog post on Thursday.

The service initially launched in Texas back in May 2017. Now, Uber Freight will be moving into six metro areas across the US—in California, Arizona, the Chicago-Midwest region, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, the post said.

Those areas were chosen, specifically, because they are places where "drivers like to run," the post said. Along with the initial Texas launch market, all of the announced regions account for more than 25% of the drivers and freight in the US, the post noted. The loads in these markets will start to become available over the next few months.

Along with the new regions, Uber also announced a new personalized load matching feature for drivers, the post said. Drivers will be able to find loads of their preferred freight type, for example, more easily, so they can pick them up.

"The app will now automatically learn drivers' preferences based on their past loads, their location, their home base, and more," the post said. "When a new load is available that matches these preferences, the app will notify the driver so they don't miss out."

The Uber Freight app will also be updated over the next few weeks to show loads along certain preferred routes as well. So, drivers who prefer short or long haul routes can pick up the loads that best fit their needs, the post said.

Uber has stated in the past that its goal for Freight is "leveling the playing field for America's truck drivers." There isn't an autonomous arm for Freight yet, but companies like Uber and Tesla are working on autonomous trucks, which could benefit from the data collected by apps such as Uber Freight.

The 3 big takeaways for TechRepublic readers

Uber Freight is expanding to six new markets across the US, located in California, Arizona, the Chicago-Midwest region, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.

Uber Freight is also launching new personalization features, allowing drivers to choose loads by load type or route type to find the best fit for them.

The data collected from the Uber Freight app could help the trucking industry, especially regarding the use of autonomous trucks in the future.

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